(Editor’s note: This post by Marine Corps Times staff writer Gina Harkins first appeared on that publication’s Battle Rattle blog.)
New sea lanes are opening around the the North Pole due to melting ice, and the Navy and Marine Corps are ready to defend them if needed.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert met with Navy Times reporters and editors in late February to discuss where the service is headed. One of the places he highlighted might not be on the minds of sailors and Marines, but with more ships likely to use new routes opening in coming years, it’s possible they’ll be forward deployed there, according to the Navy’s new 16-year Arctic roadmap published last week.
- Source: Navy (John Bretschneider/Staff)
Marines are participating in an 11-day exercise north of the Arctic Circle in Norway that started March 10. But experts are cool to the idea that military-to-military conflict is likely to break out in that region of the world, despite the likely increase in traffic.
Read more about what they think is leading the military polar’s pivot here.
